CHAPTER 22

The next morning, Miguel walked into the Miyagi-Do dojo relatively early. He always came 30 minutes earlier than anyone else, as it gave him a half hour extra to train before the rest of the group arrived and training began. It was an unspoken consensus within the group that if any of them were going to top Robby in the All-Valley, it would Miguel, and Miguel felt every ounce of that pressure on his shoulders.

Twenty minutes later, the rest of the group started to arrive, with Sam the first person to show up, a worried expression on her face. Miguel walked over to her, and she kissed him quickly.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Miguel asked.

"Much better. Thank you so much for being there." Sam said, her face extremely nervous. Miguel noticed.

"What's up?" He asked. Sam closed her eyes, remembering the pure rage and fury in her dad's eyes when Sam had told him about what Miguel did that night at the party. That incident had dredged up all of the resentment Daniel had towards Johnny and Miguel for their actions at the All-Valley. Sam was half-surprised that her dad hadn't stormed over to Miguel's house to confront him that night, but she knew a confrontation was coming.

"Look, Miguel, I need to tell you something." Sam said, trying to warn Miguel about what had happened the night before. "Last night…"

Sam never got a chance to finish her sentence. At that moment, Daniel stormed into the dojo, wrath written across his face. Before Sam could say anything, Daniel had lunged at Miguel, shoving him backwards and punching him in the face.

"What the hell?!" Miguel gasped, as he stumbled backwards in pain.

"YOU HIT MY DAUGHTER?!" Daniel bellowed. Miguel's face went from extreme confusion to realisation in a matter of seconds.

"Wait… last year at the party?" Miguel asked. "I swear that was an accident, Mr. Larusso. I've apologised like a hundred times for it, and…"

THUD!

Daniel sent a second blow at the side of Miguel's head, too wrapped up in his anger to realise that he was beating up a teenager. Sam stood there, immobile in shock. She tried to move, to stop her father, but her body didn't seem to be responding to her brain. Miguel's back was to the wall, and despite his best efforts, he couldn't defend himself against the karate sensei.

"Mr. Larusso? Can I just say something?" Miguel spluttered, winded from a punch to his solar plexus, but seriously annoyed at this point. Daniel held off throwing a third punch as the student spoke again.

"WHAT?!" Daniel shouted.

"I swung at Robby, and ACCIDENTALLY hit Sam. You deliberately beating up a teenager… doesn't that make you worse than me?" Miguel snapped, just as angry as Daniel at this point. Daniel and Miguel were insanely similar - both of them had normally passive personalities, but also had extreme temper issues.

Daniel roared in annoyance and lunged at Miguel again, sending a punch at Miguel's ribs. Sam finally got over her shock and she rushed over, trying to pull her dad away from Miguel but failing.

"DAD, STOP!" Sam shouted, trying to grab Daniel's arm and pull him away, but he was too strong. At that moment, thankfully, Johnny walked into the dojo. His eyes widened and he dropped his bag in shock. He rushed over and pulled Daniel off of Miguel, doing what Sam couldn't, and shoving Daniel against the wall.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Johnny shouted. Daniel tried to shove Johnny out of the way, but Johnny wouldn't budge.

"Get out the way, Johnny! This doesn't concern you!" Daniel growled.

"Like hell, it doesn't! That's my kid you're whaling on!" Johnny spat, pointing at Miguel, who was being helped by Sam over to the side of the dojo, still trying to regain his feet after being severely winded. The rest of the students except Hawk had arrived at this point, and were watching this exchange, astonished. Tensions had finally boiled over between Johnny and Daniel, and they were about 5 seconds from going nuclear on each other.

"Move. Now." Daniel snarled.

"Make me." Johnny snapped. Finally, the long overdue fight between Johnny and Daniel erupted…

For the first time ever, Daniel struck first. He sent a vicious uppercut at Johnny's chin, which would have knocked him out if Johnny hadn't dodged. Johnny then sent a tornado kick Daniel's way, which connected with Daniel's back. Daniel fought back, hitting a flurry of kicks that sent Johnny flying back into the wall. Johnny wasn't out yet. Far from it. Johnny shouted out in anger and charged at Daniel, tackling him through the sliding doors of the dojo and into the back garden.

Daniel was severely dazed after the tackle, and he was totally at Johnny's mercy. The two were by the Koi pond at this point, and Johnny picked up a small rock that was lying next to the pool. He grasped the rock in his hands, ready to beat the rock over Daniel's head. Daniel had nothing but hatred in his eyes as he stared up at the blonde standing over him.

"Go on. Do it." Daniel growled, as Johnny gripped the rock tighter and tighter, his face red with rage but his hands white with the force he was grabbing the rock with. Johnny glanced sideways at Miguel, who had managed to stand up, and was shaking his head.

Miguel's eyes screamed at Johnny not to do it and eventually, Johnny's hand went limp and the rock slipped out. He then grabbed Daniel's arm and pulled him to his feet, shoving him backwards but not knocking him over.

"What are you doing?" Daniel spat, his words dripping with pure loathing.

"Being the bigger man." Johnny snarled. "This team-up is done. We can compete against you in the All-Valley. Bert, Penis Breath, Diaz, let's go!"

Miguel started to move towards Johnny, but Mitch and Burt didn't move. Johnny looked at them and raised an eyebrow.

"Guys, come on! Let's go!" Johnny snapped.

"Actually, I'm staying." Mitch said. Johnny scowled at him.

"What the hell, Penis Breath? Why?" Johnny spat.

"You literally just called me Penis Breath." Mitch remarked. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Assface. Let's go." Johnny said. Mitch didn't move.

"Mr. Larusso is actually nice to us." Mitch replied. Johnny sighed. He knew he had lost one of his students.

"Bert?" Johnny asked. Bert slowly shook his head.

"Sorry, Sensei." Bert murmured. Johnny nodded and turned to Daniel, who was grinning at him, triumphantly. Johnny glared at him.

"Don't look too happy, yet." Johnny growled. "I still have my champion. I brought him to the top of the mountain once. So help me God I'm going to do it again. Come on, Miguel."

Miguel nodded, scowling daggers at Daniel and the whole Miyagi-Do dojo, before spitting in the Koi pond and limping after Johnny, out of the Miyagi-Do dojo for the last time…

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"Here! Put this on your face, kid!" Johnny said, slapping an ice pack on Miguel's cheek, where a humongous bruise was flowering. The two had just gotten home and Carmen was out, so Johnny took charge in helping Miguel heal from his beatdown by Daniel. He couldn't believe Larusso had done that! Fight with him, FINE, but hurt the kid… that's when Johnny saw red. Miguel shrugged the ice pack off his face.

"Don't want it." Miguel grunted. Johnny rolled his eyes and shoved the ice pack roughly back onto Miguel's cheek.

"Shut up and hold it there." Johnny snapped. Miguel sighed and nodded, defeated. "Man, Larusso is such a bitch! What the hell is wrong with him, beating up a kid?!"

Miguel scoffed and Johnny glared at him.

"What?" He snapped.

"Nothing... it's just I think you're the last person who can make that argument, after fighting Kyler and those guys last year, and Robby and those guys this year." Miguel stated. Johnny shook his head furiously.

"No! That's different! Those assholes deserved it!"

"And I didn't?" Miguel asked. "I kinda did, sensei, and you know it. Like getting drunk and hitting a girl… that's something my father would do."

Johnny scowled at Miguel.

"You're NOTHING like your dad. You did it BY ACCIDENT."

"Still did it." Miguel stated. "And I've now taken my licks for it. So what now? Are we still competing in the All-Valley, or am I pulling out?"

Johnny looked at Miguel like he had gone insane.

"Pull out? What the hell are you talking about?! Only pussies pull out." Johnny stated, chuckling momentarily at his unintended innuendo. "Of course we're still competing! We don't need them to win the All-Valley! They needed us way more than we needed them. Everyone knew that you were going to be the one to win the All-Valley."

"Please. No pressure or anything." Miguel interjected, rolling his eyes. Johnny shrugged.

"Am I wrong or what?" Johnny asked. Miguel eventually sighed and shrugged.

"So we're competing?" He asked. Johnny grinned and nodded.

"Hell yeah, we're competing! Now, do you still have your old Eagle-Fang T-shirt?"

Miguel put his head in his hands, chuckling, but before he could answer, his mom walked into the house. Her eyes widened when she saw her son, but her reaction was thankfully a lot calmer than after Halloween the year before.

"What the hell happened?!" Carmen exclaimed as she rushed over to her son.

"It was Larusso." Johnny growled.

"Your girlfriend beat you up?" Carmen asked Miguel, slightly surprised.

"Her dad." Johnny spat. Carmen's eyes widened.

"An adult beat you up?! Oh, my God, Miggy! Do we need to press charges?!" Carmen exclaimed. Miguel chuckled.

"Mom, unless I explicitly say otherwise, the answer to that question will always be no. I fight my own battles." Miguel stated. Carmen sighed. Her son could be so stubborn sometimes - one of the parts of his dad she had hoped Miguel wouldn't inherit.

"Okay, fine. But at least tell me you're not training with him anymore!" Carmen demanded.

"Of course not. I'm training Miguel myself from now on, 1 on 1, like the good old days." Johnny stated. Miguel couldn't help but smile. He was excited. Everything had gotten so complicated recently with their attempt to combine dojos and take down Cobra Kai, and Miguel was looking forward to bringing it back to how it used to be: less complicated and more fun.

Carmen still looked concerned. It was bad enough her son was target number 1 for the most-feared dojo in the Valley, but now he also had adults who used to be on his side also fighting against him? She didn't like the sound of that at all. Miguel put a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave her a hug.

"I'll be fine, mom. So what I got slapped around a little bit? It just means I need to get stronger for next time. And besides, I got Sensei in my corner again. How can I lose?"

"He says, with the bloody eye." Carmen remarked. She eventually sighed."Okay. I'm not on board for all of this, but I trust both of you. But if either of you come back here with a bloody face or a broken nose, I'm gonna say I told you so."

Miguel smiled and nodded. Now, he had some serious training to do if he wanted to be strong enough to fight off any ambushes Cobra Kai or Miyagi-Do would throw at him before the tournament. He no longer had people at either side of him to have his back. Well, he still had Johnny, and as far as Miguel was concerned, that was all he needed…

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"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Sam shouted at her dad later that day. "YOU BEAT UP MIGUEL?!"

"It was just 4 punches! And besides, he hit you, Sam! You said it yourself!" Daniel exclaimed. Sam scowled at him.

"Yeah, and he apologised like a million times for it, and he's more than made up for it! I've forgiven him, and we moved on!"

"You don't get it, Sam! People like that… they don't change!"

"What, you mean people who talk with their fists, not their words?! Yeah, I noticed!" Sam snapped, glaring at her father. "But Miguel isn't one of those people! If you actually knew him, you'd know that he is one of the most laid-back people in the world!"

Daniel sighed.

"Look, Sam, you have no idea what it's like to be a father." Daniel stated. Sam sighed.

"Honestly, neither do you!" Sam spat. "A good father doesn't go and BEAT UP his daughter's boyfriends!"

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Amanda shouted, walking into the room at that very moment. "You beat up Miguel?!"

"Okay, you don't get it, Amanda! He hit Sam!" Daniel exclaimed. Amanda nodded.

"At the party last year? Yeah, I know. She told me." Amanda stated. It was Daniel's turn to be confused.

"She told you? When?" Daniel asked. Amanda shrugged.

"I don't know. Like a year ago?" Amanda replied. Daniel's eyes widened.

"A year ago?! Sam, you told her and not me?!" Daniel snapped.

"I wonder why, Daniel!" Amanda remarked, sarcastically. "I can't believe you did that! Not that I care about your weird, insane Karate cult very much, but how are you going to walk into training and face him and Johnny tomorrow?!"

"Well that's not a problem. Because of Dad's actions, Johnny and Miguel have quit permanently." Sam snapped. "You know, you're lucky I'm not joining them, and the only reason I'm not is because I believe in MR. MIYAGI'S style of Karate, not in you!"

With that, Sam stormed out of the room and Amanda's eyes widened. Although she didn't care about the karate part of the stupid war, she sure as hell cared about getting Cobra Kai kicked out of the Valley, as they were the ones who were terrorising her daughter.

"Wow. Daniel. I can't believe you." Amanda stated, in shock. "Look, here's what you're gonna do. Tomorrow afternoon, you're going to go down and see Johnny and Miguel, and you're gonna beg them to come back, because you know just as well as I that if you don't, you are going to lose the tournament, and Cobra Kai is going to stay forever. If you love your daughter enough to beat up her boyfriends, I think you love her enough to not want her to be terrorised by Cobra Kai for the next two years! Is that clear?"

"Amanda, I…" Daniel stammered.

"IS THAT CLEAR?!" Amanda shouted. Daniel drooped his head and nodded.

"Yes."

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The next morning, Miguel and Johnny were doing some punching training. They were at the public park again, and Johnny was using his two small hand targets and was sparring with Miguel. They had been going for several minutes and Miguel was exhausted.

"Sensei… I… Need… Rest…" Miguel panted between breaths.

"No! Rest is for pussies! Rest isn't for champions!" Johnny exclaimed. But Miguel was granted 30 seconds of rest, and he sipped his water bottle as he saw someone walking towards them. His eyes widened.

"Is that…?" Miguel's voice trailed off. Sure enough, moments later, Hawk had walked all the way over to their corner of the park. He hadn't been there when Miyagi-Do and Eagle-Fang split, so Hawk could be a potential student for them.

"Hey. I heard shit went down yesterday." Hawk remarked. "You got room for one more student, Sensei?"

Johnny smiled widely and nodded.

"Hawk! FALL IN!"